I FINALLY understand the Maillard reaction

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You’ve probably heard of the Maillard reaction, but here's how it actually works (AND how to hack it).
**note that I removed a tip from this video regarding the use of baking soda to brown onions - the more I've experimented with that technique, the more I've realized I don't actually like the results!
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘁𝘆-𝗴𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝘆:
-Hellwig M, Henle T. (2014) Baking, ageing, diabetes: a short history of the Maillard reaction. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 53(39):10316-29. doi: 10.1002/anie.201308808.
-Liu S, Sun H, Ma G, Zhang T, Wang L, Pei H, Li X, Gao L. (2022) Insights into flavor and key influencing factors of Maillard reaction products: A recent update. Front Nutr. 9:973677. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.973677.
-Martins SFS, Jongen WMF, Van Boekel MAJS. (2000) A Review of Maillard Reaction in Food and Implications to Kinetic Modelling. Trends in Food Science & Technology 11: 364-373.
-Mottram DS, Wedzicha BL, Dodson AT. (2002) Acrylamide is formed in the Maillard reaction. Nature. 419(6906):448-9. doi: 10.1038/419448a.
-van Boekel MA. (2006) Formation of flavour compounds in the Maillard reaction. Biotechnol Adv. 24(2):230-3. doi: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2005.11.004.
𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 (𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲) 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀:
- • FOOD - DELICIOUS SCIEN...
-www.seriouseat...
-cen.acs.org/ar...
-www.chemistryw...
-www.scienceofc...
-modernistcuisi...
-foodcrumbles.c...
-www.illinoissc...
𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿-𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰:
-Dr. Varoujan Yaylayan, Professor & Chair of the Department of Food Science & Agricultural Chemistry at McGill University
MinuteFood is created by Kate Yoshida, Arcadi Garcia & Bill Mead, and produced by Neptune Studios LLC.
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[@MinuteFood]

OK, gimme your favorite examples of GBD-liciousness...I need them in my life!

[@krijnbuijt]

Black garlic is just amazing

[@guidosalescalvano9862]

With all due respect this should be a series...

[@Suppenfischeintopf]

Slowly cooked onions. Onions are the best

[@PramkLuna]

Can never go wrong with fried chicken with buttermilk coating

[@JonathanKayne]

I made some pulled pork the other day and one thing I did to enhance browning was to sprinkle a small amount of white sugar in with my spice rub. Not enough to make the meat sweet, just enough that it would get super brown when seared.

[@ericschulze7136]

Well-done! I wrote the Serious Eats article you reference in your citations and use in the video. As a scientist, I was frustrated that there was no good general explainer for the food-curious, so I wrote it myself. So excited to see it used so effectively on screen. Thanks for sharing my work and spreading better awareness for not only what the Maillard (I do say the 'd') is, but also how to practically alter it. Bonus points for including the section on how it differs from caramelization and starch degradation. Keep it up!

[@MinuteFood]

Hi Eric - I have a question for a video I'm working on about Maillard & caramelization that I can't seem to find the answer to, and I wonder whether you could help me out. Any chance you could reach out to me at [e-mail]?

[@jakeehrlich8113]

I’ve been self studying food science for about 5 years now and a lot of my knowledge has been hard won, looking everywhere for understandable explanations, attending college classes, or otherwise just improving my baseline so that I can read more technical content. I’m both amazed and a little mad at this channel for condensing so much of what I’ve learned into such easily accessible videos 😅 I’ve even learned a few things I didn’t know before!

[@DaveE99]

Any good resources you recommend?

[@Majorkill675]

I cannot have been the first one to read "MALLARD" on the thumbnail thinking this was gonna be about ducks

[@PramkLuna]

Thought this was about mail, "Mail-Lard"

[@brothermine2292]

If someone was going to be first, why should it not be you?

[@ruprup-p1h]

I mean she said ducking awesome a couple of times so idk what you mean 😄

[@StellarLimpkin]

I did as well. What can I say, I’m a birder.

[@ChemEDan]

Why do ducks wipe? To clean their little quacks.

[@chrispi314]

As a French person it took me some minutes to understand the duck pun. And I would pronounce it "Mayar", the D (in this type of situation), is often silent

[@Superbouncybubble]

It's really common to pronounce the final consonant of French words when speaking English. Just look at how anglophones say words like Paris or Croissant.

[@MinuteFood]

Yes, it seems like pronouncing the D is a much more Americanized pronunciation!

[@alejotassile6441]

Yo directamente lo pronuncio "Maliard" JSJS

[@lobowolf44]

But pronouncing it like French, shouldn’t it be “mEiyar” ?

[@purpleghost106]

Are you from Quebec or somewhere else? Because the Quebecer family I have often seems to re-add ending consonants for empahsis (they drop them when speaking fast) so if they were saying it as just one word something like this seems like it *might* get that empahtic treatment when saying it on it's own. (not sure because I'm not a Quebecer, just my extended family are)

[@xmuzel]

My milkshake brings all the boys to maillard

[@shanayekh9345]

😂😂😂

[@ShoutoutToTrees]

Underrated 😂

[@jergarmar]

That's a pretty good way to remember how to pronounce it, actually.

[@rorysimpson8716]

When it comes to steaks in particular, salting them with coarse kosher on both sides then setting them on something that lets air touch both top and bottom (I use an old air fryer basket that I don't use for anything else) and leaving it like that in the fridge for an hour before searing creates fantastic Maillard effects. You can get a nice Chicago rare going without those expensive presses that heat up to like 1200 degrees which steak houses use. Can't take credit for that though, learned it from Alton Brown.

[@wills.5762]

Learned the same trick from Guga

[@haph2087]

With the baking soda reccomendation, it's important to point out that baking powder will not work, because baking powder has acid(s) mixed in to balance it's pH. Often, bread recipes that call for only baking soda will also have an acidic ingredient, and ones that call for a mixture, might have a weaker acid/less acid that doesn't fully react with the soda required, or perhaps they want the final product to be more acidic than pure baking soda would give, and more basic than only baking powder would give. Anyways, the difference between the ingredients baking soda and baking powder, is that soda is a base, while powder is soda neutralized with a weak acid, so only soda will work to raise the pH of a neutral food.

[@ctwest3601]

Praise be to the algorithm. I'm a Helen Rennie / Adam Ragusea / J. Kenji Lopez Alt content consumer, so I'm fairly familiar with the information presented, but I *love* the humor, the production, and I'll never tire of hearing (or rambling at anyone who will listen) about food science. Basically this is gold to me, thank you!

[@dscrive]

I watch Helen and Adam, I'll have to check out Kenji. A couple other YT cooks you might find watchable is Joshua Weissman for humor and sous vide everything for lots of experimenting, mostly with steak

[@hudgensmovie]

The blood glucose A1C test is also based on the same concept. It is a measure of the browning of blood cells from rubbing against blood serum glucose over the 120 day lifespan of the cells.

[@SooperKewl]

Wow

[@tnn-cj3vy]

amazing video, been waiting for a thorough explanation on this for a long time from you. i was hoping you'd have dived deeper into caramelization and dextrinization; but i'm satisfied with the basic (hehe) explanation, too.

[@samuelcamero6618]

This video is a true privileged to have access to. It’s like a cheat code to becoming a better cook.

[@Neniom666]

Thank you SO MUCH! I've spent so much time thinking about the Maillard reaction and this clarifies everything

[@rajkamal.a]

Oil/fat is a great way for that rxn to proceed because it is basic pH of 10. And it increases the rate of heat transfer by forming a film around the food. That's why foods that are fried with butter or oil taste good :)

[@randyjohnson2943]

Based on the chemistry of oil I thought this was bull shit. I just googled it and oil has a pH pretty close to 7 but is variable depending on type of oil and additives.

[@Arkylie]

When I was little, I hated onions. I still hate *raw* onions, because they bite me (I accept that bite as part of salsa, but nowhere else -- and adding raw onions is the fastest way to ruin comfort food like potato salad), but it took me *ages* to realize that *cooked* onions are a whole different creature! And now I love adding cooked onions to just about any savory dish. Also: Mushrooms. I went to Buzz Inn Steak House and ordered mushrooms and they brought me mushrooms that had been cooked, but *not* brought to the point of deliciousness (they looked like those canned mushrooms only heated up -- no color, no crispness), and I've never been more disappointed with a meal I was expecting to be delicious 😭

[@randyjohnson2943]

I didn't like onions when I was a kid. My mother never caramelized them.

[@lanehaden3457]

I can't believe this channel doesn't have more subscribers, such great content!

[@noobletify869]

Love these videos! Please keep them coming :)

[@mm-yt8sf]

i have wondered if caramelizing sugar reduces the calories in it? it's certainly changing it...and in a general hand wavy thought experiment i figured taken to the extreme the sugar would turn into black carbon which doesn't seem like a high energy food, so my guess was it would reduce it along the way...but i never saw anything definitive saying so.

[@lanasinapayen3354]

It's unlikely that the change would be big enough to be significant. Calories aren't changed by cooking except if you're literally burning the food to ashes. Cooking does make the absorption of calories easier though.

[@SBImNotWritingMyNameHere]

Yea it'll reduce the calorific content But not by much

[@SBImNotWritingMyNameHere]

​@@lanasinapayen3354 You'd be right in most cases, But in this case, no Sucrose is extremely simple sugar (disaccharide) that gets broken down to glucose + galactose (these 2 sugars get absorbed directly) v fast and absorbed Caramelization has a super complex effect of breaking it (cracking), forming unstable hydrocarbons, then forming different much more complex complex (poly sacch, sugar alcohols, multi group hydrocarbons, etc) as well as simpler sugars (mono sacchs) It becomes harder/slower to absorb for the body (though 99~% will still get absorbed cuz our body loves sugars and really hates wasting it) (I have extremely oversimplified here btw , I don't know how to properly explain but also keep it short and in layman terms)

[@colin1259]

Literally the only channel I have notifications turned on for.

[@micah4628]

the baking powder on chicken wings tip is so real, ESPECIALLY if youre baking them instead of frying its basically needed for crispy skin

[@JM221b]

I'm glad plenty of people are signing up so you can keep on making videos about the amazing science of food

[@conradkolo]

I live in Montreal, Québec. And I went to school in French my entire life. And as an anglophone, I feel the pain of trying to pronounce French stuff. There's a learning curve, and it's exponential.

[@vm360fly]

Thank you for trying your best though! :) It's apprécié! ;)

[@Arkylie]

*The custom in France* *Is to dress up their words in loose pants* *Letting their spelling be almost completely boundless* *Yet soundless* --poem I wrote while annoyed at French spelling sticking extra letters all over the place, particularly on the end of words. ...yes, I realize English is worse, but since it's my native tongue it doesn't *feel* as off-putting as French does to my brain. And it's not like I found the spelling all that difficult to work with at the time (I studied French in homeschool because it was the only option, and then in college too), it just annoys me. (Also: "vin" as nasal "vah" what even is going on here??) (Irish Gaelic, that's the one I couldn't get past the spelling in the first place. My brain fails at the transition from written to audio or vice versa, and I hate that because I love the language and wish I could learn it.)

[@titaji0-042]

Yes through 0:14 Trail and Errrr indeed 😂

[@stocktonjoans]

for the record, bog bodies could be delicious but we may never know

[@KieranGarland]

excellent, excellent video, cheers. been following the food lab road and your channel is a great accompaniment. subscribed!

[@Drety6]

Wow well done. Explanation was at excellent pace etc

[@rafaelperalta1676]

Most of the time, I put Maillard reaction to what I'm cooking, it just hits the right spots.

[@NilakshMalpotra]

I have needed this channel in my life since I picked up cooking a couple months ago. I was hoping to find something scientific somewhere to help me understand what the hecc is going on! Thank you for your work!!

[@NilakshMalpotra]

Oh my God this is so much better than I could've ever hoped for. God I love KZbin

[@Curious.Cook.]

you started a dopamine effect in my brain , thank you

[@StratosFair]

Beautiful video, a lot of cooking tips I've been using or seeing around make so much sense now !

[@PastaAivo]

Great, now I feel hungry again. The thing about pH got me thinking though, a lot of Chinese-style food uses baking soda etc. for meat velveting, which I guess could also improve the delicious browning too. Not that you would notice with most things stained with soy/oyster sauce, but I'm getting hungry either way.

[@ppppp524]

The new thumbnail is way better. I didn't click on this video when I saw it before, but now i did

[@ashemischief]

The “BASICally (hehe)” earned a like and subscribe 😂

[@uishy340]

Oh wow! Is this why roast potatoes parboiled in water w/ baking soda crisp up so much better? I assumed it was just the fluffier exterior but this makes much more sense!

[@Set2Wumbo]

When she said "Major Maillard" I immediately imagined a French culinary themed super hero

[@zvuho]

Very nice video! Loved it. About the color, the caramelization also produces brown componds, you know, like in caramel. but yeah we love that flavor too! dont we??

[@RGSTR]

I love the drawing style and animations.

[@Shenzi504]

minute food's decent into maillard rabbit hole

[@michaelturner2806]

The Mallard Reaction is when the duck asks if you have any grapes.

[@Zander10102]

Got any nails?

[@jediikk]

Great video! I would also appreciate a video describing how much browning is TOO MUCH browning from health perspective. That's what keeps bugging me.

[@MinuteFood]

Yes, I'd love to do a follow-up diving into the science on this! Stay tuned :)

[@sebastiancarreira5832]

This please, my initial reaction to the video was "oh great, exactly how I like the paella socarrat that I love" and then imediatelly being told that actually has poison...

[@Valdagast]

​@@MinuteFood maybe a collab with one of the YT chemists? This seems right up That Chemist's alley.

[@Kenionatus]

@@MinuteFood looking forward to it

[@TragoudistrosMPH]

​@@sebastiancarreira5832exactly. Dampened my enthusiasm considerably! I was thinking of all the recipes I'd alter...then the warning...

[@abydosianchulac2]

Okay, nothing intelligent to add, but I had to say that those are some of the best pretzels I've seen in a very long time.

[@rikrikonius1301]

I wasn't expecting such fowl language at the end of the video 🤣

[@eccentricOrange]

Does this have anything to do with the Chinese deep-frying technique wherein they really heat their vessel and make their food spend a lot less time in oil?

[@atrumluminarium]

I believe the Maillard reaction also has some similarities with the assay used to determine the hemoglobin a1c levels in blood tests

[@3dprintedman119]

Hey I really apreciate your videos, and I would really like to hear more about health aspects❤️

[@pokemonbrickbronze5947]

2:34 oml first mallards and now *DUCKINING!?!?*

[@matir1225]

"Sir, what are your intentions with that bug body?" "MinuteFood said it's golden brown delicious"

[@Basta11]

She said "what the duck" because right before that she said "mallard". Mallard duck is a type of duck. In case you didn't get it.

[@ivy_inferno]

I made crispy chicken thighs the other day and I was SO impressed by the crispiness of the skin! I now understand why putting a bit of baking soda on the skin helped :)

[@noisy99_]

"Dip your pretzels in Lye" I prefer to dip my pretzels in other types of manipulation, like gaslighting 💀

[@tylerphuoc2653]

Gaslight, gatezel, girlboss

[@Konpekikaminari]

@@tylerphuoc2653 grillboss*

[@younscrafter7372]

4:46 arent's pretzels always put in lye, just like, by definition. In German, they're literally called Laugenbrezel (lye pretzel) Edit: fixed a typo

[@TigruArdavi]

The German word is spelled Brezel (plural: Brezeln), not Bretzel, and it is only called Laugenbrezel if it is indeed made with lye. Pretzel or Brezel in the first place refers to the form. Yes, it mostly refers to a lye pretzel, while one would generally first think of a Laugenbrezel when just hearing Brezel (at least in Germany), there are other baked goods produced in pretzel form, like sweet biscuits or crumpets like Osterbrezeln ("easter pretzel" made from sweet yeast dough) that are not put in lye.

[@naejin]

5:30 Hmm...I want to know more about this socarrat. Because I LOVE the crispy cooked rice at the bottom of Bibimbop.

[@UnPuntoCircular]

GOLDEN (GOLDEN), BROWN (BROWN), DELICIOUS (LICIOUS) HAHAAHAHAHAHA

[@Praisedasan81939]

There is one important thing to keep in mind! Maillard Reaction can also cause the production of cancerous substances such as Acrylamide! My Prof used to tell us that the best way of cooking healthy while enjoying maillard products is to cook golden but not burned brown

[@mrmagmrmag]

Fascinating! Thanks a lot!

[@timseguine2]

So when I am grilling, I am Maillarding in my yard.

[@iranjackheelson]

Is there a direct tradeoff between Maillard reaction and carcinogens? if high heat is the only practical way to the reaction, and carcinogens are inevitable byproducts of the high heat, the answer unfortunately seems, "yes". If not, can you give an example where you can maximize Maillard reaction without also raising carcinogens?

[@drgeniusphd]

incredible video!!! i really hope this channel lasts. it’s my favorite thing on here

[@naejin]

1:43 why does reflecting light turn things brown? I always think of browning as to slowly turning black. And doesn't black/darker colors absorb more light than reflect? I thought white was the color of reflecting all those visible rays.

[@ezrakornfeld8436]

4:23 is that why lye boiled soft pretzels are so much better than others Edit: 4:47 yes it is.

[@Kenionatus]

Adam Ragussa mentioned in the pretzel video that just came out that there is also some gelatinisation of the starch happening.

[@deb4550]

this just makes so much sense wow

[@Przemo-c]

Doesn't baking powder contain acid to for sodium bicarbonate to work in non acidic food. Or is it still raising pH?

[@Anonymous-vn8ik]

Hi, do you think you could do one on wood cutting boards and other wood tools used in the kitchen and how mineral oil or wax affects the structure?

[@Becky_Cooling]

Why does KZbin have to recommend this to me the day AFTER my exam on this topic?

[@mundodacrianca2147]

0:56 So... a chain reaction? That's probably where the adjective comes from anyway

[@c_b5060]

Wow, what a great video that actually explains what is going on.

[@CharliMorganMusic]

I'm buckled! Im buckled!!

[@Lyokoheros-KLPXTV]

But wouldn't adding bakind soda/baking powder also affect the test beyond the maillard process itself?

[@haph2087]

Baking powder is baking soda neutralized with an acid, so you wouldn't want to use it here (since we are trying to raise the pH) Anyways, to answer the question, maybe yes, but due to the complexity of the maillard reaction, it'd be hard to characterize. There are many many different chemicals, and the soda would react with all of the acidic ones, so there would be a great variety of byproducts. However, likely most of these byproducts would be produced in some amount, because there are various bases in there too. Whether those byproducts will cause effects noticeably different from the normal maillard reaction, idk.

[@hitaishibarai9062]

Soooooooooooo from now on Ducks gonna be the mascot for this channel??? If so then DUCK YEAH!!!!!!!!!! 100% supported

[@40nights40daystv]

Bro a Minute food and Ethan Chlebowski cross over would go crazy 🔥💯🚨

[@dem.p160]

me, maillarding every single thing I eat till oblivion 😊

[@Krunschy]

Adding baking powder to onions to accelerate the Maillard reaction sounds like really good idea, yet I'm unsure how the result compares to doing normally. After all the browning of onions is also in big part due to caramellization, which (probably) doesn't get sped up with higher ph. So with different aromas developing at different paces, it probably tastes differently too.

[@9demirtas]

it turns into a grayish goo and tastes like it too. would not bother.

[@davidadams4801]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hafUma2foZiqgNk America's Test Kitchen use a small amount of baking soda in their caramelised onion method. I've used it a few times to great success. (I have to admit that I often cheat and just add brown sugar and balsamic vinegar to softened onions, but the actual caramelised ones are definitely better, they just take longer.)

[@hopsiepike]

Baking soda also tastes awful if overdone at all. I add a pinch of sugar to make it go faster, if needed.

[@SooperKewl]

Gordon Ramsay always tosses in a spoonful of sugar when he's sautéing onions and peppers

[@RobertMurray-wk5ib]

I use these reactions all the time. Brown onions and chicken together, add water to cook soup. Poor man reaction! MANUFACTURING flavor from scratch. (Too poor to buy chicken flavored cubes one time, now I won’t go back)

[@AaaronI]

I enjoy this channel but while being on a diet, it's more torture than fun. Now I'm hungry

[@SytRReD]

And now I'm hungry 🤤 Thanks for the videos, Minute Food is really really awesome!!

[@rafaelutzul4790]

isn't baking soda bad to eat as is? is it much different if you fry it with onions?

[@GogiRegion]

Baking soda is bad to consume as is because it’s basic and will react with stomach acid. As long as you use reasonable amounts, your food shouldn’t become so basic that it’s unhealthy.

[@MGSLurmey]

Onions, in particular, are quite acidic, so most if not all of the baking soda is going to be neutralised. Any left over will more than likely end up in the oil used for frying, rather than the onions themselves.

[@AlienValkyrie]

4:46 "Dip your pretzels in lye" you mean to tell me that y'all maniacs outside of Germany _haven't_ already been doing that?

[@rydaddy2867]

This episode gave me strong Good Eats vibes; I loved that show, and my late wife credits Alton Brown with teaching me how to cook!

[@davidmirzayi1289]

Please also make a video about Fermentation

[@ParthiviSharma-n4k]

woww dude! what software you use for making videos?

[@00Linares00]

what a beautiful video to watch hungry

[@Aura_Mancer]

"Basically" haha, good one!

[@penitentman7139]

Wait,...black garlic is just old garlic??? Oh God. Thanks for the video, and the knowledge

[@marcopacaide9333]

I really like the background music. Where is it from?

[@ElFranches]

Great video!

[@wile123456]

Lol intro reminds me of the game cook, serve, delicious!

[@UnusualPete]

Your first thumbnail was better. Cool video!

[@hussaineh89]

What's prerajulization and Farhanitrate!

[@ConnerADavis]

Would baking powder work? Isn't the whole point of it that it has an acid and a base that neutralize to produce a rise?

[@SoChillExplores]

What about flavor? Idk about sprinkling baking soda on sauteed veggies... Has anybody done it?

[@adambyte256]

For the most ~authentic~ pronunciation, the D should be pronounced _if and only if_ it immediately flows into a vowel afterwards. So, "Maillard Reaction" is, "My y'arrr reaction," but, "Maillard it up" is, "My yard it up."

[@serhancinar5218]

Great video... I sence a touch of Gastrofisico videos, which are great by the way

[@MinuteFood]

Good eye - Arcadi, the amazing mind behind Gastrofisica, is MinuteFood's illustrator!

[@rosiefay7283]

0:38 Bit surprised that you've never heard anyone speak of orchards, or that you're not sure how to say it.

[@Cl0UD0RPHAN]

Looked up this video just so I could learn how to pronounce Maillard

[@Bacantor74]

Love the videos, but the sibilance is a bit much. It might be worth looking into a de-esser filter for your audio?

[@believeroflight9888]

tbh , I did not learn much of cooking. But I did learn chemistry. All the hacks were known , just did not know all that connected.

[@locomotivefaox]

4:22 That pun was all it was chalked up to be.

[@Aura_Mancer]

Serrano ham! Proud of the mention as a Spanish gal here. It's sooo nice Edit: Socarrat too!

[@alenahawke475]

Chef Jean Pierre always talks about this on his cooking channel.❤

[@Speak4Yourself2]

Thanks a lot!